present

"Hyung, what did you remember earlier?" Baekhyun asked as soon as they returned to their dorm. Suho was taking off and putting his running shoes on the rack near the front door when he replied calmly. "You know, the sudden phone call..."

"Phone call?"

"With Chorong-ssi." It was the only thing he said before he went upstairs to Sehun and his bedroom. He jumped on his bed, facing the ceiling without giving back a greeting to the maknae and put his arm over his droopy eyes. He could feel himself sinking into the mattress beneath him, and he wanted to stay in that exact position for a few more seconds, minutes, or the whole day, even. He was tired. He needed to relieve his stress, somehow. He can't think of anything else but to sleep, but he can't do that right now. They have a busy schedule ahead of them and he can't afford to risk his career just for a sleep. Suho worked that hard to get to this point - he can't just waste his efforts for nothing.

He needs to hear her voice again.

Without even thinking, he reached for his phone on the pocket of his sweatpants and held the number one for a speed dial. The agony of hearing the long, monotonous ring on the call irritated him and he was about to end it and re-dial again but the other line already picked up the second he pulled his phone away a bit from his ear. A raspy voice sounding like a kid spoke. "Y-Yoboseyo?"

Suho didn't talk back. Instead, he was savoring every moment of this phone call and installs every little detail of this conversation into his mind.

Chorong coughed after saying 'hello' a few times already. "Who's this?"

Celestine thought she was going to die when she heard his voice. It was still that same angelic tone he always used whenever he spoke, and she felt like she was going to melt any second now. But she was worried -- he sounded as if he was carrying a large rock behind his back and she can't help but feel sad for him. "Sorry... I'm hanging up."

"W-Wait!" Celestine clutched her smartphone closer to her face and sighed deeply. Her hands were shaking from nervousness and she was glad she went inside their bedroom right when Bomi and her arrived at the dorm after their exercise by the Han river. The others were now eating breakfast without her. She could feel her stomach swirling inside and she thought she might throw up, so she skipped the meal and rested on her bed. She was sitting cross-legged and Celestine's heart was thumping, and thumping. "Is there something wrong?"

"I just... wanted to hear your voice."

Celestine fell silent. How could she not scream and fangirl right at this moment?

Because she's not supposed to be talking to Suho, to Kim Joonmyeon. Chorong is. Chorong is supposed to talk to him, comfort him to whatever his problem is, and she's supposed to tell him sweet, meaningful words to improve their relationship.

She's prying into their personal lives intentionally.

But she can't really do anything with it, can she?

She can only try to help Chorong with whatever her relationship was with Suho. Yeah, that's what she will do. She will help Chorong by getting back with Kim Joonmyeon. She will not fall in love with him because she's not allowed to. Even though Celestine said at the very beginning that she will make him fall in love with her, she knows now that it's clearly impossible. Suho is in love with someone else, and that is enough to make her happy.

From this day onward, she told herself that she would be Park Chorong.

"I'll meet you at the usual place, Rong-ah." Chorong gasped lightly. She didn't know where their meeting place was. "I'll be waiting." Suho said without waiting for her reply and ended the call.

Celestine quickly looked for some decent clothing and put them on, and then she shoved her car keys inside the pocket of her jeans. She opened the drawer near her bed and grabbed the pink diary. Celestine read something before while she was scanning Chorong's diary and after a few flips of the pages, she finally found the entry she was looking for.

                   130922
           We met at a rather isolated coffee shop at the outskirts of Seoul.
           Bomi teased me again but I ignored her. Suho told me that...

After reading that first sentence from a page on the diary, she slammed it back inside the drawer and headed out to grab Bomi before dragging her away from the dining room and into their bedroom. "Bomi-yah."

Celestine couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her. Bomi's mouth was still stuffed with food while she was asking her, obviously confused and curious altogether. "Huh? What is it, unnie?"

"You know, the coffee shop..." Chorong mumbled, worried that Bomi would again. "What's the address of that again?"

"Ah! That! Are you going there now, unnie?" To her surprise, she wasn't snickering. Maybe it was because she was hungry. "Why are you asking me? You always go there, you practically memorize the address and roads to go through in the back of your mind!" Celestine snatched a small sling bag inside their closet and put her wallet and phone inside.

"Just text me the complete address, okay? No more questions! I gotta go." Celestine hastily grabbed a black cap from somewhere in their bedroom and pat Bomi's shoulder, before dashing out to the living room, through the narrow hallway of their apartment, and towards their front door. She could hear the members' questions about where she was going while she was putting on the same sneakers she wore earlier, but she only screamed out a loud 'I'll be back soon' before slamming the door shut.

#

Celestine had her driver's license even before all of this. It was a must for her because she didn't like walking around and taking the bus or the taxi to college. She felt as if it has been centuries since she last drove herself to somewhere, and the fact that Chorong's car was very different to hers made her somewhat nervous. The tension she felt gradually decreased as she sat on the driver's seat but it shot right up again because she remembered why she was going to the coffee shop in the first place. Bomi sent her the directions when she read her text message. The roads to take were so many, but she thought it would all be worth it if she'll get to see Suho.

Once she was inside the white Mini Clubman, she made sure that no one would recognize her. Celestine found a black mouth mask and some sunglasses lying on the passenger seat and she quickly put them on before plunging in the car keys on the ignition key. She started the engine and drove off after reading Bomi's text message which said the directions to the coffee shop and another annoying taunt. 'Unnie! I hope everything goes well for you and Suho-oppa. Don't worry, I'll interrogate Eunji later for you!

By the way, tell me if you two kiss! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ'

#

The sunlight shone right before her eyes and the wind went through which made her quite at ease. She shut the door of her car and pressed a button on her car key to make sure the door was locked. It took her almost an hour for her to get here because of